Interlocking sheet-piling.



- J. W. SEDERQUIST. INTBRLOGKING SHEET FILING. APPLICATION 11.21) FEB.24. 1913.

1,067,489, Patented July 15, 1913.

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JAMES W. SEDERQUIST, OF LYNN 1VIASSACHUSETTS.

INTERLOCKING SHEET-FILING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 15, 1913.

Application filed February 24, 1913. Serial No. 750,141.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J lures W. SnDER UIsr, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and resident of Lynn, in the county of Essex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inInterlocking SheetPiling, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the present invention is to produce an improved form ofinterlocking metallic sheet piling which is easily driven in interlockedcondition and when driven is efliciently sealed against leakage; toproduce a pile of the character indicated of which the portion whichinterlocks with other piles provides suflicient clearance to permit ofthe piles being inclined to one another, that is, placed in other thanthe same plane or parallel planes; to provide a pile which is securelyinterlocking and provides a substantially tight joint against flow ofwater, but is not liable to become so tightly joined to other piles, byrust or otherwise, that it cannot be pulled easily; and, finally, toprovide a pile, having the characteristics hereinbefore indicated, whichcan be shaped by rolling, easily and economically. The manner in which Iaccomplish these objects is suificiently explained in the ollowingspecification, and the character of pile which I have designed to embodythe features above set fort-h is suflicient-ly shown in the annexeddrawings, to which reference is directed.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of one end ofa sheet pile made in accordance with my invention and embodying theprinciples thereof. Fig. 2 is an end or plan view of such pile, showingthe manner in which the same is interlocked with adjacent piles. Fig. 3is an end view of an uncompleted pile embodying my invention, showing infull lines the form of the pile before it is given its final shape, andindicating by dotted lines the final step required to complete the pile.Fig. 4: is an end view of two interlocked piles, showing one of the manyforms which may be given to the pile. Fig. 5 is an end view of twointerlocked piles embodying a modification of the invention. Fig. 6 isasimilar view showing a fabricated section of the invention for aparticulra purpose. Fig. 7 is a view of a modified form of the pileshown in Fig. 5.

The same reference characters indicate the same or similar parts in allthe figures.

The pile in its preferred form comprises a web a which constitutes themain portion or body of the pile, stiffening and anchoring'flanges Z2,Z2 and 0, c, and locking members d and 6. These locking members arelocated at the extreme edges of the pile, while the stiffening flangesb, b, 0, c, are near but somewhat within such edges. Preferably thestiffening flanges extend perpendicularly from the plane of the centralor body portion of the pile, and those projecting from one side of thepile are in approximately the same plane with the corresponding flangesprojecting from the opposite side of the pile. The flanges are beveledor tapered, that is, they diminish in thickness from their bases totheir outer ends or edges, as shown best by the end views. I call thoseparts of the flanges which join or merge with the body of the pile thebases of the flanges.

Preferably the pile is formed by being passed successively between rollsof proper form in the same manner as heretofore usually practised in themanufacture of integral rolled sheet piles, the pile being finallyproduced from successive operations performed on a billet or bloom. Therolls which act successively on the developing pile are formed so asgradually to reduce the thickness of the central of the pile and todevelop the stiflening flanges or ribs 6, b, 0, 0. The edge portions ofthe piece beyond such flanges are also rolled into shape, diminished inthickness, and formed at the extreme edges with a thickened bead or bulbf. The shape of the practically finished pile before its final pas sagethrough the finishing rolls is substantially as shown in Fig. 8, wherethe width and thickness of the body and edge portions of the pile, theform of the beads or bulbs f, and the dimensions and forms of theflanges or ribs have the predetermined desired values.

The final operation upon the pile is to pass it between finishing rollswhich are so formed and arranged as to bend the edges over substantiallyin the manner shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3 and by full lines in allthe other figures. In this final forming operation the dimensions of themembers of the pile are not altered in the least and the only change isthat given to the shape of the projecting edges, which instead ofprojecting straight outwardly, are bent over or body portion' with thebead on the turned over portion be ing the part of such portion which isnearest to the adjacent flange or rib. The edges formed as abovedescribed constitute the means for providing an interlock with otherpiles, and the formation and dimensions of these interlocking portionsare of the greatest importance. Such form .and proportions must besubstantially in accordance with the following specifications in orderthatithe pile may be practically useful and satisfactory. In order toconduce to a better understanding of any invention 1 will givehere theessential characteristics which a sheet pile must possess in order toanswer my purposes. First, the lock must be sufficiently free toperrnitthe piles to be easily driven without binding or cramping.Second,.the lock must be of such a character that the piles cannotseparate inany direction. Third, the lock!betweenadjacent piles shouldbe suificiently close to reduce the leakage ofwater to theminimum and atthe same time'be not too close to permit the pilestobepulled readilywhen their period of use isended. Fourth, there should be freedom forthe ;.piles to swinger turn angularly'with respect'to one anotherthrough a sufiiciently wideiangle about their interlocked parts in themanner of a hinge. My pilepossesses theaforegoing essentials byreasonofthe propinquityof theflanges b and c te theadjacentturned-overedges, because such edges are so bent over that the distance between thenearest .point of =thebead or bulb fandthe adjacent flange is less thanthe width of any other part of the space inclosedbetween theturned-overedge and the said flange. 'Thereby, when two'piles are interlocked withthe thickened edge or bead ofeach in the space provided between theturned-over part and the flange of the other, there is no room for thebeads thus interlockedtobe withdrawn except lengthwise ,of the ,pile..At the same time, the length .of the inclosed space between thebent-over edge. and the'flange is greater than thelength of the bead,thus there is sufficient clearance.

The opposite edge portions vof any pile are duplicates of each other andare essentially alike in all forms or embodiments of the pile. For thepurpose cf defining and explaining the terms used in the followingclaims I 'willdescribe one of such edge portions in detail, and willidentify each of the elements of the same by a. characteristicterm. Thethickened. part at the extreme edge of @the pile I have already called abead orbulb f. Such bead forms one boundary of the mouth gof the space72. inclosed between the rolled-overedge and the adjacent flange. Suchspace I prefer to call -a groove. That partof the turnedover edge\YhlCllxCEOIIIlS the outerboundary of the groove and is designated Icall a wall, and the portion of the pile which joins such wall 70 withthe body of the pile, and to which the reference letter Z is applied,'Icall a web. The part b (and similarly the part c) which I haveheretofore called a flange I also term a stop, because it forms anabutment or stop making contact with the locking portion of the adjacentpile. The groove h vthus bounded between the stop Z), the web Z, thewall 70 and the bulb f is wider between the stop Z) and the wallk thanthe thickness of the bulb and longer than the length of the bulb. Theterms longer and length as used in this connection have referencerespectively to the dimension of the groove from the web Z to the mouthor narrowest part 9 of the groove, and to the extent of the bulb fromthe point where the latter springs fromthe wall 70 to the extreme-outered e of the bulb. This point is most clearly indicated at m in Fig. 3.The width of the mouth which of course is greater than thethickness ofthe .wallJc, is less, as already indicated, than the combined thick.-ness and inward offset of the bulb f. Thus there is ample clearance forthe piles to be driven after being interlocked, .withouttheirinterlocking parts cramping or binding; and. there is a spacebetween the boundingwalls of the groove and the endor extreme edge oftheinclosed bead. Thisenables one pile to .be swung about thelock toeither side of a plane parallel to the main or central portion of theweb, as indicated at the right-hand portion of Figs. 2 and 6 in fulllinesand in dottedlines at the right-handportion of F 5. Therebyconnected piles may be turned with respect to one another to form acurved wall. The amount by which one pile'can thus swing relatively toanother is limited by the flange or stop Z), against whichthe outer orback face of the bead and of the wall k comes into contact. Itis onaccount of this function ofstopping-the swing of the .pilethat 1 termthe part Z) a stop.

In driving the piles, the sand, clay, gravel, etc.,.through which thepile is forcednaturally tend to enter the locking grooves and to forcetheir way into the clearance space between the web Z and the adjacentend of the inclosed bulb. Thepressure of this material has the effect oftending to crowd the bulb outward fromthe groove as far as permitted,and until the opposite sides of theibulb on one pile come into contactwith the bulb and the flange or stop of the other pile acent to themouth 9 of the groove. As theopposite surfaces of the bulb which thuscome into contact with the wallsof the-groove are graduallyitapered, thebulb acts as tongue or wedge whichis crowded tightly into :the gradually;tapering .mouth of the groove and makes a two-point tangent contactvtherewith. There being but two tongues at each locking. point, each withtwo points of tangent contact, and one of these points being common tothe two tongues, when the piles are straight, that is, all insubstantiallythe same plane, or parallel to the same plane, there arethus threepoints of contact between twopiles at each locking point.There is thus provideda seal against leakage of'water from one side ofthe interlocked piling to the other which is very eflicient. The tangentcontact areas are very limited, whereby the total pressure between thepilesisconcentrated and made intense to make a tight joint, withoutpermitting the parts to become permanently bound together by theformation of rust at the points of contact.

In some designs of piling which have. eX..

tended areas of contact at the locking points, ditliculty has beenexperienced on account of a tendency of the piles to become so securelyunited together by the formation of rust that they could not be pulledup when their period of use was ended. On account of the wide clearanceand narrow bearing areas in the interlocked portions of my piles, thereis no difficulty in pulling up the piles after use, but they may beremoved very readily.

It is not essential. to my invention that there be flanges 6, Z), c, con opposite sides of the pile. On the contrary, the essential principlesof the invention may be embodied in a pile having such flanges on oneside only, as shown in Figs. 5 and 7. The piles may also be made in manydiverse forms, for instance, by being bowed transversely, as indicatedin Figs. at and 7. My design of pile is capable also of being fabricatedto provide for corners and partitions in a colfer dam or other structurein which the piling is used, as indicated in Fig. 6, where a partialpile (Z, is connected to the central part of complete pile by angles p.

The ribs Z) perform many functions in my pile. They are stiffeningflanges which give to the pile greatly increased resistance to bending,they are anchoring members which resist any tendency of the pile toshift after being driven, and. they are stops, each of which forms oneof the boundaries of a locking groove.

What I claim Letters Patent is:

l. Interlocking sheet piling comprising members each of which has itsedge portion bent over to form a laterally projecting tongue and has astop projecting perpendicularly from the body of the pile adjacent toand beside such tongue, providing between itself and the tongue agroove, the groove being wider than the tongue and being and desire tosecure by longer than the tongue from the mouth to outside the flangethickened at itsedge to make. a bead and bent; over beside such flange,the space between the bead and. the.

nearest point; of the flange being narrower than any other part-of thespace. inclosed by such bent-over str p, and the distance between thebead and; the junction of such strip with the pile body being greaterthan the length of the bead.

3. Interlocking sheet piles each having a flange andan edgestripbentover-beside the flange and provided with a bead on the extreme...end or edge, the edge strips of the piles being interlocked, with thebead of each contained between the web portion and the flange of theother; the bead of each being confined between the bead and the flangeof the other, with a clearance providing for angular adjustment of onepile relatively to the other.

4:. A sheet pile including in its construction a web projecting at theedgeof the pile and in the same general direction as the body part ofthe pile, a stop extending substantially at right angles to said web, awall extending from the web in the same general direction as and besidethe stop, and a bulb or tongue on the edge of such wall having its innersurface nearer to the adj a cent stop than any other point of said wall,and the area of the space inclosed between the stop, web and wall beinggreater than the transverse area of the bulb itself, whereby a clearancespace is provided permitting interlock with another pile and freedom ofmovement of the bulb of such other pile in such space.

5. A sheet pile consisting of a body, a stiffening flange projectinglaterally of the body near its edge, a web projecting longitudinally ofthe body beyond the flange, a wall projecting laterally from such webbeside and approximately parallel to said flange, and a bead on the edgeof said wall having a greater thickness than the wall and located withits side next to said flange at a less distance from the flange than anypoint of the wall, which distance is greater than the thickness of thewall.

6. A sheet pile having near its edge an outwardly projectinglongitudinal stiflening flange, and at its edge a longitudinal tonguebent over beside the flange and inclosing a groove between itself andthe flange, the mouth of such groove being narrower than the thicknessand inward projection of a bead on the edge of such tongue and widerthan any other part of the tongue, and all the transverse dimensions ofthe groove being greater than the corresponding dimensions of said bead.

7. A metal sheet pile comprising a body with laterally projectingflanges near its edges, constituting a beam, and having outside of itsflanges edge portions, each of which is rolled over and back toward theadjacent flange, inclosing a groove of which the mouth is narrower thanany other part, and of which the length beside the flange, and thewidth, are greater than the corresponding dimensions of the rollecl-overedge portion, whereby a flexible joint for interlooking with anothersimilar pile is providecl.

8. A metal sheet pile having a substantially plane central portion, andhaving a locking portion consisting of a web joining said centralportion in the same plane with the latter, and an edge rolled over toone side from such web and backwardly, and the pile having also a stopprojecting laterally beside such edge, the space inclosed between thestop, edge, and web having greater dimensions than the rolled-over edge.

In testimony whereof I have aifixed my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

JAMES W. SEDERQUIST.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR H. BROWN, PETER W. PEZZETTI.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

